Bollywood and the Effects of Cultural Imperialism...

Trade liberalization and economic growth have given more people than ever before the means to become consumers of media entertainment. The rising literacy levels in developing nations and access to Western (meaning mostly American) entertainment offerings no doubt play a significant role in creating media consumers that are more demanding in terms of their traditional cultural and entertainment industries. With these notions in mind, I seek to propose that, cultural imperialism is indeed a viable and extremely useful theoretical model in analyzing the relationship between American cultural production and the rest of the world.

Out of this model important questions begin to emerge: What are the implications of Western media globalization for indigenous cultures in developing countries? What kind of influence, is Western media globalization having on indigenous media industries? And finally, in this age of media globalization, are there any indications that cultural influences may be taking place both ways – between the East and the West – rather than only from the West to the East? If so, do these counter-flows really challenge cultural imperialism?

The expansion of democracy and economic liberalization in the last two decades especially, has no doubt unleashed unparalleled Western cultural influences around the world. Biggins (2004) says that globalization, with an adverse advocacy through the media, has brought in a “landslide transformation of existing local culture and identity into a new form of culture with no frontier” (www.razonypalabra.org...). With this in mind I wish to address the Bollywood film industry in India, and more importantly how this industry reflects the globalization of media imagery, making it an almost cultural clone of the Western vision of life

According to Schiller, Cultural imperialism occurs with the Western countries’ influence on the language, values and attitudes, including religion, ways of organizing public life, styles of politics, clothing styles, and many other cultural habits (Thussu, 48). Thus, when considering this definition, perhaps a most compelling example of this is the incorporation of the Hollywood production formula seeming to consist of themes of sex, violence and alcohol in Bollywood films.

India’s movie industry, which turns out more than 800 feature films a year compared to about 250 produced by Hollywood annually, is the largest in the world. However, in recent years, movie theater attendance has fallen substantially because the industry’s traditional song-and-dance storylines and hokey treatment of love scenes has not produced big hits. As a result, the Bollywood film industry has started to deal openly with sex and show generous doses of skin in an attempt to draw audiences. For example, Agence-France Presse reported that the biggest grossing film in 2003 was “Jism” (Body), which tells the story of a woman who is unapologetic about using her sexuality to persuade her lover to kill her rich husband. "The success of Jism showed that Indians are no longer ashamed of watching a steamy scene in a full house," said leading filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, who wrote the film's screenplay. Bhatt said the film reflected a change in the mindset of the Indian viewer (www.razonypalabra.org...).

Now, what can one make of situations like this, can we truly attribute this change of direction in film to the Western ideas of what constitutes entertainment? I say yes, not only because of the correlation seen between increased flow of Western cultural products and the change in Indian film having a role in this change, but also because of what I have seen through personal experience. While visiting India this past summer I was stunned by some of the mere advertisements I came across. In a culture where I had to pay special attention to dress, not showing any skin above the knee or the elbow I was stunned to see scantily dressed models of a much fairer complexion than is characteristic of this part of the world, grazing the billboards of down town Calcutta. It was evident that the advertisements were indeed a reflection of the luxuries and way of life that are displayed through western ads, film, and television, rather than that which is characteristic of India.

With this in mind, what then can we say of the counter-flow of culture, and does this flow of east to west really challenge any notions of western society? With a projected movie market that is essentially larger than that of Europe and maybe even North American some day soon, how long will Hollywood remain immune to these Asian influences on its own style of filmmaking? My instincts lead me to believe that within the next 20 years one can expect to see a huge change in the production of Hollywood films, not because of a genuine desire to move towards the Asian style of movie making, but perhaps as an attempt to simply infiltrate the Asian movie market as these populations become more economically powerful and influential in the world arena. So really, this reverse flow of culture is in no way near the point of challenging cultural imperialism, and rather stands as a further developing and expansion point of Western media.


Rampal, Kuldip. “Cultural Imperialism or Economic Necessity? The Hollywood Factor.” Razon Y Palaba.< http://www.razonypalabra.org.mx/anteriores/n43/krampal.html>

Thussu, Daya Kishan. “International Communication: Continuity and Change,” Oxford University Press, London 2006.

Disney, Motion Pictures, and Cultural Imperialism...

The idea of cultural imperialism expressed in film has no doubt been an issue at the forefront of cultural imperialism debates for a long time, but it was not until reading the Cartwright and Goldfarb article on Disney’s health education films in Latin America, that I was able to come to terms with the idea that this kind of cultural imperialism was taking place at the hands of everyone’s favorite mouse. I suppose this idea was never very far from reach, but my inner child and subsequent attachments to some of my favorite films and childhood memories were simply drowning out the possibility that those who brought you wholesome classic films such as, Beauty and the Beast and the Lion King could take part in such nonsensical practices. On the other hand however, one could easily argue that these practices did not so much consist of unethical or imperialistic messages, as they did promote and teach those in seemingly primitive rural circumstances about the importance of sanitation and cleanliness in suppressing a whole slew of preventable illnesses.

According to the most basic dictionary definition of the term, cultural imperialism is the imposition of a foreign viewpoint or civilization on a particular culture or people. With this definition in mind, there is no doubt that the actions Disney took between the years 1942- 1945 in its production of educational shorts for Latin America were indeed the epitome of what we know to be culturally imperialistic practices. The Disney educationals were part of a joint effort by Disney studios and the US government to, “ …Teach the fundamentals of social science free from religious or political influence”(Cartwright and Goldfarb, 170). However, far from teaching free of cultural influence or bias, these films manage to fix intently on the private bodies and domestic lives of the subjects these films and constitute a discrete set of colonialist imaginings and desires. Essentially, the families in the films are characterized as innately lazy and ignorant, thus the Latin American subjects and families are held individually responsible for their own states of disease and poverty, as opposed to addressing the real issues which included a lack of sufficient infrastructure and development on the part of these nations own governments. The strategy used in these shorts are no doubt pedagogically linked to an association of illness and poverty with particular bodily “customs,” where as health and prosperity are linked with Western scientific standards of hygiene.

When drawing an a specific example of , “When Cleanliness Brings Health,” it was stealthily demonstrated when comparing the clean family to the dirty family that many of the characteristics of the clean family were indeed reflections of middle class America. The clean family for example, had an abundance of multi-colour dishes sitting on a shelf, plenty of food, smiling faces, and a hard working nuclear family. The dirty family on the other hand were shown in ripped worn clothing, cooking on the floor, their faces covered, and the family appeared very sad with slow moving darker animation. In a sense these cartoons were indeed a good way of disguising imperialism because it made the films in a sense, more playful and less offensive. This format also allowed for the hiding of “shameful faces” and the use of the large animated hand reaching in and correcting things that the dirty family did wrong. It was almost as if there was some kind of metaphorical control in use, where someone bigger was needed to reach in and help correct what was being done wrong. According to Whitney, “…moving pictures constitute one of the best mediums to foster understanding and more friendly relations between peoples.”(Cartwright and Goldfarb, 173)

In thinking about the many factors that surround issues of cultural imperialism I can not help but think back to a separate and no less crooked example where in 1946 America again utilized motion pictures to aid jointly in justification of evacuation and downplaying the dangers of nuclear testing and the future wellbeing of the people of Bikini Atoll in French Polynesia. As the narrator states, “Bikini Atoll, a dot on the map of the mid-Pacific, was destined to become a focal point for the eyes of the world!” (Trupp, 104). This film made it look as if these people were nomadic thus pleased to be helping out their Friends in America, when in reality they were being forcibly displaced.

Essentially, in its Latin American oriented productions, Disney promoted health along the lines of a merit system structure where health rewards labour, and illness is a punishment for laziness. While the entertainment films of the time were regarded as an important part of winning the attention of the popular audiences, the educationals were a more overt means of controlling and conforming political views, as well as individual and community cultural practices across Latin American cultures (Cartwright and Goldfarb, 177). Aside from this though, a critic such as myself may be forced to ask, what were some of the benefits of these educational shorts? Was there a marked improvement in health and wellness? And although these films were made under a less than noble pretense of economic and political influence did the benefits of the so called “soft power” outweigh the costs in any way?

Whatever the answers may be in terms of improving the lives of those which the Disney films touched, I am reluctant to give in and say that “Soft Power” is really soft at all. Instead I propose that, the shorts produced by Disney were the epitome of culturally imperialistic films with an ulterior motive than promoting the wellbeing of those they were made for, and were instead critically harmful to the opinion of self which Latin Americans held.

Sources:
Cartwright, L. and Golgfarb, B. “Disney Discourse: Producing the Magic Kingdom.” Routledge, 1994.
Trupp, P. “Rings of Fire.” Sea of Dreamers: Travels with Famous Ocean Explorers. Fulcrum Publishing, 1998.

This is an example of one of the videos on momentofyouth.org, where Jon addresses issue surrounding the environment and who holds the responsibility to address these issues, us or the Government?


Issues in Canadian Politics - The Environment from Moment of YOUth on Vimeo.

Week # 3- A Way to learn More...

Last weeks readings in the Thussu text no doubt shone a light on issues which we as communications students seem to be dealing with non-stop. Some of these issues include the ever expanding and intensification of the global communications industry. It is no secret that media organizations both in Canada and abroad have been moving towards both vertical (ownership of different stages of production/distribution) and horizontal integration (ownership of formerly competing producers and distributors) processes. But who is to blame for the furthering concentration of our media sources? Is it the big conglomerates striving for monopolies and unbound control? Or our Government, for failing to put an end to the expansion of international agreements which weaken state control over the telecommunications industry? Or rather is it no fault but our own for lacking in the initiative or willingness to step in and really put an effective end to the homogenization of our culture? Is the expansion of the TNC- transnational corporation essentially allowing the big name media companies like Newscorp put a cap on what we are, seen as being “privileged,” enough to know about.

According to Thussu, TNC’s possess the following characteristics...

1) Co-ordination and control over various stages of individual production chains within & between different countries
2) Ability to take advantage of geographical differences in the distribution of factors of production (resources, capital, labour) and in state policies (taxes, trade barriers, subsidies)
3) Geographical flexibility: to switch resources and operations between locations at an international scale. (Thussu, 96)

So really, if a TNC encompasses all of these essentially powerful characteristics that so easily put them into a large profit making and heavily influential category, why do so many of them, like CNN or Fox News for example, cut back , skimp out, or report in a biased manner on the reportage of issues of key importance. With the least foreign correspondents out of any major competing news corporation, why is it that as Americans and Canadians for that matter, we such a huge proportion of us turn to them when faced with the question of which news broadcast to watch? We know the CBC is a more reliable news source, after al l it is publically funded. So why the toss up?

It is true that CNN is readily available in so many places all over the world, but what is the cost of this increased access. I vouch to say that a decrease in quality no doubt accompanies the increased access and ‘infotainment’ reputation this particular news corporation possesses.

So, if these kinds of issues seem to be flooding the mainstream , in communications policy at least, my question becomes, What kinds of initiatives need to be taken to inform the public on the issues that may not be covered by mainstream directionally motivated news corporations. Particularly, what can be done to help inform and inspire the youth of a particular nation to get involved, and read between the lines of what they are being told?

A simple answer in terms of Canada in particular, may be right under our noses in the medium of online communities such as momentofyouth.org. This online forum possesses so many of the qualities that serve to inspire and inform the youth of today. Here, there are several videos, or “vimeos” as the creator calls them, done in a kind of knock off of Rick Mercer, bold statement, and audience questioning style. There are videos and accompanying forums discussing a variety of topics having to do with Canadian society, its politics, and key issues of debate that so many young people may not either know about or lack a clear understanding of. The creator, Jon Gallager a PhD. candidate at the University of Waterloo, does a great job of addressing issues such as the environment, the political spectrum, the minimum wage, crime, and poverty. It is through addressing these broad issues that he also touches on aspects of globalization and corporate/ governmental control of our public industries, things that are absolutely vital to know about when hoping to gain some kind of educated perspective on international communication. So although momentofyouth.org has not yet addressed the issue of concentration of media ownership, for example, this site is no doubt on well on its way to further developing its ideas and remaining a strong resource for those Canadians , particularly youth, who want to know more than what they are simply being told by mainstream media sources.

Sources:

http://www.momentofyouth.org/discussion/index.php?board=3.0

Thussu, Daya Kishan. “International Communication: Continuity and Change,” Oxford University Press, London 2006.

A language with many traits....

This video provides a brief synopsis of the development and characteristics of this international language. Watch it if you want to learn more about Esperanto's origins and benefits of the language. Enjoy!!!

Esperanto and the International Community....

Last class we spent a considerable amount of time discussing what indeed constituted a nation state, as well as how this entity may affect and further perpetuate international communication and global politics. Traditionally, a nation state is seen as a specific form of state, which exists to provide a sovereign territory for a particular nation. As it was discussed in class, the state is a political entity while the nation is more of a cultural and or ethnic entity. When successfully implemented, such as the case of Portugal or Iceland for example, this implies that the citizens share a common language, culture, and values (Miriam-Webster Online- www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary...).

According to Thussu it was the rise of modern nationalisms and the expansion of European colonial empires that played a significant role in the modern creation of nation states. With the expansion of European influence in the 19th century and the growing effects of free market capitalism, attempts at monopolizing the global communication industry were easily satisfied through the expansion of shipping, railway, and telegraphy systems (Thussu, 3). Essentially, modern nations as they began to emerge in the 18th and 19th centuries were fundamentally new types of human community involving a unified geography, a unified temporality, as well as a unified vernacular language- which prior to this time was unheard of (Thussu, 3). It is from this point specifically, that I wish to address a topic which was not mentioned in the readings, but nonetheless has the potential to contribute significantly to the study and more importantly, progression of international communication.

It is evident that, as a result of Britains predominance in the industrial revolution of the 19th century, the English language has dominated as “the international language.” But why is it that English is all the rage? Why is there a higher demand for English teachers than any other kind of language teacher? Is it because English is simply a superior language? Easier to learn? Structurally distinguished? I think not. Rather, it has been the preferred language of the last two superpowers (the United States and Britain), and it is because of their dominant influence over the global economy, politics, and society that this language is the chosen elite. Personally, I can see many flaws in this logic, and as such wish to discuss the true international language of Esperanto.

Esperanto is a language not of any particular country or ethnic group, rather it is a neutral, international language created by L.L. Zamenhof on the notion of fostering a worldwide community of peace and international understanding (www.esperanto.ca/kurso/). Esperanto is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language and is most useful for constructing neutral communication. This means that communication through Esperanto does not give advantages to the members of any particular people or culture, but provides an ethos of equality of rights, tolerance and true internationalism. There is even evidence that learning Esperanto may provide a good foundation for learning languages in general, and various educators have estimated that Esperanto can be learned in anywhere from one quarter to one twentieth the amount of time required for other languages (www.esperanto.ca/kurso/). With its vocabulary stemming from germanic and Romance languages, and its phonology from Slavic languages, it is evident that Esperanto makes an effort to incorporate a wide array of language families in its creation and evolution.

I realize that there are many flaws and possible counter-arguments to the idea of a consciously constructed language such as Esperanto being the dominant medium of international communication, but the ideology behind the concept is nonetheless intriguing. Essentially, it provides all speakers with an equal ground on which to communicate, leaving no room for linguistic advantages such as that with native English speakers in the international arena. With this in mind I seek to propose the idea of a common language such as Esperanto alleviating further monopolization of the communication industry, and simultaneously further perpetuating a truly international community of peace and understanding as being entirely possible.

This video is pretty self explainatory, but manages to provide a view into the reality this global economy imposes on the developing world.